Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni made his first visit to New York with the Lakers. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SPORTS

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK - Yeah, it pretty much had to be New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.

If one player was going to make Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's return to Madison Square Garden a painful one, it had to be Anthony, whose offensive style clashed with D'Antoni's idea of how offense should be played and resulted, in part, in D'Antoni's late-season resignation in 2011-12.

Anthony, who left the game in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle and didn't return, punished the downtrodden Lakers, starting with a three-pointer 27 seconds into game. One of the game's best scorer's, Anthony had 22 in the first quarter and finished with 30 as the Knicks outlasted Los Angeles 116-107 Thursday.

"Carmelo was unbelievable in the first quarter," D'Antoni said. "When Melo gets like that, that's Melo. He did an unbelievable job. We had trouble with pick-and-rolls and Melo. ... He has those games where he does that, and when he does that, the Knicks are awful tough to beat."

The Lakers were in desperate need of a victory but showed little defensive effort in the first half, trailing 58-32 with 7:20 left in the second quarter. Los Angeles made a late run and were down 113-107 with 1:26 to play.

It was the Lakers' fourth consecutive loss and sixth loss in their past seven games, dropping them to 9-14. If this wasn't bottom for the Lakers, well, on Friday they play the 3-16 Washington Wizards, who count one of their victories against the Heat. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant joked that they needed the Washington Generals on their schedule.

Los Angeles had three players score at least 20 points - Bryant with 31, center Dwight Howard with 20 and forward Metta World Peace with 23 - but the large early deficit made it difficult to come back and win.

"Again, guys were playing hard," D'Antoni said. "We've just got a lot of things to keep working on, transition over and try to get out of this obvious slump and just go forward."

When will that be? The Lakers are putting faith in the return of point guard Steve Nash who hasn't played since Oct. 31 with a non-displaced fracture in his left leg. He's getting closer to returning, but D'Antoni declined to put a timetable on it. Nash, who will try to practice next week and said after the game, "Not really sure how it will respond. I still can't do certain things. ... The next hurdle is taking some contact and see how my body responds."

Also, Howard re-iterated he wasn't supposed to return from back surgery until January and isn't 100%. D'Antoni wanted to get Howard more touches in the second half and expressed frustration with the offensive execution.

"We're still not doing our pick-and-rolls, and that for us, like the Knicks, is a big staple of what we do," D'Antoni said. "We've got to be able to solve that problem because Dwight has to be that guy forcing that, and we're not there yet. That's something we've been working on and will work on. That's the key offensively, being able to get him the ball."

Howard took just 11 shots and said, "We've got to move the ball and share it."

That's where Nash is expected to make a difference. He is a gifted pick-and-roll point guard and adept at finding open shooters.

"If I come back and we take off, by no means am I the savior, and if we struggle it's not going to be on me," Nash said. "It's a team sport, and we've all got to work. If people want to judge us when I come back, that's fine. I'm not bothered by it."

Bryant was subdued in his reaction to this loss, compared to his words after Tuesday's loss to Cleveland. He defended D'Antoni, pointing out they are learning the new coach's offensive system on the fly.

"It has been a huge adjustment for all of us," Bryant said. "We have to figure it out. We have some key pieces out. When they come back, we will get this thing locked and loaded and make some adjustments."

Bryant also heaped compliments on Anthony, his Olympic teammate and good friend. Bryant said he talked to Anthony at the Olympics and told him to play his game.

"He is in an environment where they celebrate and encourage that," Bryant said. "He is being who he is."

Anthony, listening to "MVP" chants several times during the game, picked up right where he left off in Tuesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets when he scored 45 points. He made his first three shots - all three-pointers, including a pull-up three in transition. With that hot start, Anthony looked he might make a run at his career high in points (50), which he did twice with the Denver Nuggets or even his career best with the Knicks (45). He made eight of his first nine shots

"I was zoned in. I was locked in," Anthony said. "Tonight was one of those games where I had that feeling. I wanted to get it going, and I had that feeling going early in the game. ... I wanted to beat them. I wanted to beat the Lakers. It had nothing to do with Mike (D'Antoni). I wanted to protect our home court and win the basketball game."

Anthony might have made a run at 50 points had the Knicks not built such a large first-half lead or had he not left the game in pain in the third quarter.

Lakers center Dwight Howard delivered a hard foul on Anthony as he was driving to the basket with 6:54 left in the third quarter. He landed hard on his back and rolled his left ankle, but remained in the game to shot his free throws. Anthony left the game with 6:41 left in the third and went to the locker room to get checked out. He was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle didn't return.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson called it a "slight sprain" and said Anthony is day-to-day. "Right now, I am a little sore. I will wake up and see what happens," Anthony said.

Earlier in the day, D'Antoni noted the Knicks are winning with three-pointers and minimal turnovers. Those two factors were in play Thursday. New York takes and makes more three-pointers per game than any other team in the NBA and is third in three-point shooting percentage (40.9%). The Knicks also lead the league in fewest turnovers per game (10.9) and committed just six, including just two in the decisive first half.